Ripping Yarns

Rip It Up, Issue 89, 1 December 1984, Page 16

Ripping Yarns

There are certain mistakes a young band can make when they start out and singerguitarist Alastair Galbraith admits the Rip made most of them. Up until the beginning of this year the Rip had been typecast as Dunedin's perennial support band and no one seemed to consider them anything more. "We'd never been assertive enough in saying that we shouldn't have to play supports so we just kept on playing them,” he explains. "Also we never had any money as a band because all the money we earned from all the supports went straight back into our individual

pockets because our drummer had a wife and kids and needed it just to keep going. Consequently we never had any money to buy good gear we could never get bands to support us because we'd be using their gear. And also we never thought we were good enough.” But things began to look up and former Bored Games drummer Jeff Harford came into the group and was able to devote more time to the songs than the band’s previous drummer. Confidence within the band also began to rise. “We know ourselves now that we re good and we deserve to keep on going. We've got more of an idea of where we stand compared to other bands,” Galbraith explains. He in alongside other Dunedin bands with barely a second glance, even though they made a deliberate choice to form an all-woman band back in February last year. Which isn't to say they don't sound quite different, both tangibly and intangibly to most other groups. For a start, there's volume... "Men play so loud,” says bass player Kathy Bull, grinning but meaning it. "It’s amazing we share our practice rooms with bits of other bands and you can’t just plug in and go because it’s so loud. I like playing loud bass but what I call loud bass not many other people would call loud bass." "I think it’s better not to be too

does bristle when suggestions that the Rip have taken some cues from other bands like the Verlaines are mentioned, pointing out that 25 of the Rip’s 30 songs were written "before I even liked the Verlaines”.

The only Dunedin band he’ll own up to being influenced by is the Clean ference between the Verlaines and the Chills and so on until half way through last year.” So obviously the Rip haven’t, as he puts it, "known the right people” and their rise since their first, chaotic pub gig in February of 1982 (’’we very nearly resolved never to do anything again after that”) hasn't exactly been meteoric. Has the slow struggle helped Galbraith - and fellow original member bassist Robbie Muir? “Yeah, I think it has. In a situation where you might be playing to a new audience and they hate , you, it might put off a lot of bands who’ve been all the way pushed or encouraged by someone else and . when that someone else isn’t there < they fall flat. And we’ve never had anyone there to say that we were , good, no one has told us we’re good until this year. But it’s exactly the same songs.” It seemed earlier this year as if it might be same old story when plans for the Rip to tour nationally with the Verlaines were cancelled (not by the'Verlaines) after Harford had already taken leave from work to tour. But the time was put to good use with a trip up to Christchurch with Terry Moore where the band’s debut EP A Timeless Piece was recorded. .‘. The EP’s title comes from a line in the song 'Holy Room’. The “holy room” was the Rip’s practice room, which served on other days as a church : and % a gymnasium. The “timeless piece” is the handless 'clock that hung on the wall there. The record will be out soon, selfreleased but distributed through Flying Nun. • So the Rip at last have some respect and a record and they’ll be looking to -tour sometime. And then there’s the reported vow to never play another support gig ... "We say we won’t ever do sup-

ports again but what we mean is we won't support bands who we don’t think are really good. We like bands with good lyrics. I think lyrics are maybe the most important thing.” Russell Brown